Spooky

See the grasping hand of the being seeking to escape from the tree?

This is an ash who had dieback. They have removed the branches that seemed likely to drop but allowed the useful trunk to stay in place.

Along the track, there are many sick ash trees. They seem worse hit here than on the Reserve.

Is it all the fertilizer? or their position as standard trees on hedgerows? I don't know, maybe the researchers do.... but I know that some woodlands are terribly badly hit. I remember one I walked in... but then I thought the ashes had been planted, as they were the only trees. Perhaps it helps them to be alongside other trees, as I have seen elms seemingly protected by oaks.

Other news, and I have been accepted on another AI project, though at the moment it's not working. It pays more. The original one, they've now given us marks and I am below the desired level. I have not been able to find out how bad I am comparatively. I have a feeling that I am probably about average. But I fear they might offboard me for not doing enough hours.

There is little escape from worry.

Some thinkers claim that our society is traumatogenic. In some ways, that makes sense to me: we sure face a lot of chronic stress that might not be part of an evolutionary background. Yet at the same time, it's a kind of First World problem, isn't it? I mean, so I am anxious: I'm not facing drought, starvation, or genocide.